Director of catering vs food service director

The differences between directors of catering and food service directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a director of catering and a food service director. Additionally, a director of catering has an average salary of $65,732, which is higher than the $53,939 average annual salary of a food service director.

The top three skills for a director of catering include booking, customer service and culinary. The most important skills for a food service director are customer service, culinary, and servsafe.

Director of catering vs food service director overview

	Director Of Catering	Food Service Director
Yearly salary	$65,732	$53,939
Hourly rate	$31.60	$25.93
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	54,263	136,337
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a director of catering do?

A director of catering spearheads and oversees catering services and programs, from planning to execution. They usually lead the hiring and training procedures, establishing goals and timelines, managing budgets and controlling costs, setting protocols and guidelines, coordinating managers and teams, and negotiating with suppliers, building positive relationships in the process. They may also participate in developing marketing plans, meeting with clients to identify their needs and preferences, monitoring inventories, solving issues and concerns, and supervising catering services to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently.

What does a food service director do?

A food service director is responsible for managing the foodservice operations, achieving the customers' highest satisfaction by supervising the kitchen personnel, monitoring the food distribution, and responding to the guests' inquiries and concerns. Foodservice directors manage the food inventories, ensuring the adequacy of all the ingredients and materials, and keeping the storage safe and clean all the time by enforcing strict sanitary and hygienic procedures. A food service director must be updated with the current food industry trends to update the menu regularly and meet the guests' demands.

Director of catering vs food service director salary

Directors of catering and food service directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Catering	Food Service Director
Average salary	$65,732	$53,939
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $98,000	Between $35,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	J.F. Shea Co	Baptist Health Care
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Health Care

Differences between director of catering and food service director education

There are a few differences between a director of catering and a food service director in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Catering	Food Service Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Director of catering vs food service director demographics

Here are the differences between directors of catering' and food service directors' demographics:

	Director Of Catering	Food Service Director
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7%	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 8.4% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 7.3% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between director of catering and food service director duties and responsibilities

Director of catering example responsibilities.

Manage and execute every aspect of the planning process, creating BEOs and managing banquet staff.
Prepare and manage BEOs to client specifications including auto-visual requirements.
Revamp BEO writing process with training.
Direct the catering, conference service and banquet departments for two five star, five diamond resorts and two country clubs.
Monitor daily activities to ensure quality food and cleanliness standards.
Foster a positive work/customer atmosphere by ensuring facility cleanliness and compliance with health department regulations.

Food service director example responsibilities.

Train and manage countless dishwashers, cooks, servers, and other managers to achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Manage both front of the house (FOH) and back of the house (BOH) operations.
Manage a team of 12 managers and 160 FTE.
Achieve highest level of compliance with CMS and Steritech audits.
Manage departmental budget and payroll for 111 FTE's, service and production of ~ 1200 meals/day.
Manage food services at 142 bed sub-acute rehabilitation and skil nursing facility with a staff of 43 FTE's.

Director of catering vs food service director skills

Common director of catering skills

Booking, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Culinary, 10%
Event Planning, 8%
Food Preparation, 6%
Menu Planning, 5%

Common food service director skills

Customer Service, 13%
Culinary, 9%
ServSafe, 8%
Food Preparation, 6%
Good Judgment, 5%
Cost Control, 4%

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Director Of Catering
Director Of Catering vs Food Service Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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